Monthly Archives: August 2013

Right, this week and next, since we’ve been very loosely following the course of a project here, I’ll be chatting a bit about quoting for a potential job (whether that be giving a quote yourself, or evaluating what you can offer for a client’s set budget).

Not everyone approaches quoting in the same way. And every job is different, so no approach will cover every situation. Perhaps the most useful thing one can have is a few trusted colleagues who can offer advice when you get a tricky query. There are a lot of illuminating posts by other freelancers out there though, which can really help, and I’ll link a few of those at the bottom of this post.

Next week, I’ll discuss giving a range of quotes, and adjusting them while still asserting the value of your work. This week, I want to talk about the usefulness of quotes based on time.

Disclaimer: As always, this is based purely on personal experiences and approaches, and should not be considered as business advice, legal or otherwise. Any use you make of posts on this blog are entirely at your own risk.

Happy Friday everyone! So today, I sent off 136 pages of comics, so that is a good feeling!

It also means that today is not a proper post, but I wanted to post something! So here are a couple of excellent links, which are very worth attention, on Hire an Illustrator’s blog/site:

-Illustrator Randy Gallegos has this excellent, thorough pdf on How to Commission Illustration. Like my Licensing Basics comic, it’s aimed at potential clients who may not be familiar with all this. A great resource to bookmark and keep on hand for enquiries from people who may not have commissioned illustration before.

In the meantime, here’s a little fanart sketch. Earlier this week I finally got to see Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill!

After his rocky start with Earthsea, Goro Miyazaki’s definitely found his feet. I know some responses have been a little ambivalent, but I thought it was heavenly. Every frame was stunning, pacing was lovely, and even the kind of melodramatic plot elements were handled in a down-to-earth manner. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff!

(I might start doing more posts like this – with little fanart sketches of things I love/recommend/find inspiring, and a little paragraph on why. It’s good to shout about the things we think are great! 🙂

Happy Friday! Carrying on from last week’s Network at Events blog, I’m going to have a quick look at what to do (or not do) with said network.

Also, continuing the downhill trend from last week’s sketchier illustration, this week there’s no illustration at all! Shameful! Ah well – I know you come for the words anyway, but hopefully I’ll get them back on track!

My network is something I value and do my best to tend well. So I have some rules for myself about how I behave towards my fellow industry peeps (all pretty much along the lines of thinking more in terms of relationships than “Capital N Network”) – who range from the vaguest acquaintance to some truly wonderful friends. These are just for myself – your mileage may vary, as with everything!